JP2018010409A - Information processing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a novel user interface for information search.SOLUTION: An information processing device 100 has an input column display unit 14 configured to make a display unit display an input column for a search query character string to be entered by a user of the information processing device 100, a search unit 16 configured to obtain one or more search results corresponding to the character string via a network, a question display unit 18 configured to make the display unit display information on the character string in a display format used for expressing information sent by the user to a virtual operator, and a question display unit 26 configured to make the display unit display the one or more search results in a display format used for expressing information sent by the virtual operator to the user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a program.

  Conventionally, a web content search and display application is executed in the form of a web browser. Web browsers typically operate based on a client-server model and send request messages for web content to a central web server that functions as a data storage and search repository. The web server parses the request message and returns the web content requested in the response message to the web browser.

Special table 2007-500903 gazette

  In recent years, communication terminals such as mobile phones and smartphones that can be easily connected to a network such as the Internet have exploded in popularity and have been used by a wide range of users. For this reason, not only users who are good at handling information technology but also users who are unfamiliar with handling are increasing the opportunities to search for web content.

  In general, the display content of a web browser has many character strings, and a user who is unfamiliar with the handling of information technology may give an impression that it is dry and difficult to handle. In such a situation, it may be not always easy for a user unaccustomed to handling information technology to obtain a desired search result using a general web browser.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object thereof is to provide a new user interface for information retrieval.

  The first aspect of the present invention is a program. This program causes a computer to display an input field for a user of the computer to input a character string of a search query on a display unit, and obtains one or more search results based on the character string via a network. A function, a function for displaying information on the character string on the display unit in a display mode expressing information transmitted from the user to a virtual operator, and the one or more search results. And a function of displaying the information transmitted from the operator to the user on the display unit.

  When the computer acquires a plurality of search results based on the character string, a function of displaying the search results one by one on the display unit for each instruction from the user may be further realized.

  A function of reading one template from a storage unit that stores a plurality of templates relating to a conversation between the user and the virtual operator in the computer, and a sentence in which the character string is applied to the read template And a function of generating

  Before the computer displays the one or more search results on the display unit, it further realizes a function of displaying a display mode on the display unit indicating that the virtual operator is inputting a character string. Also good.

  A function of determining whether or not the character strings are included in the plurality of keywords with reference to a storage unit that stores a plurality of keywords and sentences associated with the plurality of keywords in the computer; When the character string is included in a plurality of keywords, the text associated with the keyword including the character string is displayed on the display unit in a display mode that expresses information transmitted from the virtual operator to the user. The display function may be further realized.

  A mode in which the user can select a display for instructing the computer to search for a candidate character string that is a candidate for the search query in an area different from an input field for inputting the character string of the search query. The function of displaying on the display unit may be further realized.

  A function of causing the computer to display an icon indicating the virtual operator on the display unit may be further realized.

  A second aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus. The apparatus includes an input field display unit that causes a display unit to display an input field for a user of the information processing apparatus to input a character string of a search query, and one or more search results based on the character string via a network. A search unit to be acquired; a question display unit for displaying information related to the character string in a display mode expressing information transmitted from the user to a virtual operator; and the one or more search results An answer display unit that displays the information on the display unit in a display mode that expresses information transmitted from the virtual operator to the user.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and the expression of the present invention converted between a method, an apparatus, a system, a computer program, a data structure, a recording medium, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, a new user interface for information retrieval can be provided.

It is a figure showing typically the whole information processing system composition concerning an embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically the function structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the chat-like interface displayed on the display part of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically the data structure of the template database which a memory | storage part stores. It is a figure which shows an example of the effect of the character input by an input effect part. It is a figure which shows an example of the sequential display of the search result in the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display of the candidate character string of the search query in the information processing apparatus concerning embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a reply of the greetings in the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically the data structure of the keyword database which a memory | storage part stores.

<Outline of the embodiment>
An outline of an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus having a function of displaying a web search result based on a search query input by a user.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an overall configuration of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment. The information processing system 1 includes a first information processing device 100a, a second information processing device 100b, a third information processing device 100c, and a server 200, which communicate via a network N such as a mobile phone communication network A or the Internet. Connected as possible. Hereinafter, the fact that the first information processing apparatus 100a, the second information processing apparatus 100b, the third information processing apparatus 100c, and the server 200 communicate via the mobile phone communication network A or the network N is simply referred to as “communication via network”. May be described.

  In FIG. 1, three information processing apparatuses 100 are illustrated, which are a first information processing apparatus 100 a, a second information processing apparatus 100 b, and a third information processing apparatus 100 c, but the information processing apparatus 100 included in the information processing system 1 is illustrated. Is not limited to 3, and may be 1, 2, or 4 or more. Hereinafter, the first information processing apparatus 100a, the second information processing apparatus 100b, and the third information processing apparatus 100c are referred to as the information processing apparatus 100 unless otherwise specifically distinguished.

  The server 200 acquires a search result based on the search query. The server 200 may acquire a search result based on a search query by connecting to a known web server (not shown). The information processing apparatus 100 is a computer such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a notebook PC (Personal Computer), or a desktop PC. The information processing apparatus 100 is connected to the server 200 via the mobile phone communication network A or the network N, and a search query character string (hereinafter simply referred to as “search query”) input to the information processing apparatus 100. Transmit to server 200. The information processing apparatus 100 further transmits a search result based on the search query acquired by the server 200 from the web server (hereinafter simply referred to as “search result”) from the server 200 via the mobile phone communication network A or the network N. get.

  The display of search results of web search is generally widely adopted in a manner in which search results are displayed in a list on the display unit. In contrast, the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment displays the search query and the search result on a chat-like user interface (hereinafter referred to as “UI”).

  Specifically, when the user of the information processing apparatus 100 inputs a search query, the information is displayed on the display unit of the information processing apparatus 100 in a display manner as if the user asked a question. In addition, the search result is displayed on the display unit of the information processing apparatus 100 in a display manner as if a person asked by the user answers it. As a result, the user of the information processing apparatus 100 can obtain information based on the search query as if the user is talking with another person via the chat-like UI. The information processing apparatus 100 can provide the user with a new user interface for information retrieval.

<Functional Configuration of Information Processing Apparatus 100>
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. The information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment includes a control unit 10 and a storage unit 12. The control unit 10 includes an input field display unit 14, a search unit 16, a question display unit 18, an icon display unit 20, a template reading unit 22, a sentence generation unit 24, an answer display unit 26, a result selection unit 28, an input effect unit 30, A query candidate display unit 32, a keyword determination unit 34, and a keyword response unit 36 are included.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration for realizing the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, and other configurations are omitted. In FIG. 2, each element described as a functional block for performing various processes can be configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a main memory, and other LSI (Large Scale Integration) in hardware. In terms of software, it is realized by the CPU executing a program loaded in the main memory. Therefore, it is understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by hardware only, software only, or a combination thereof, and is not limited to any one.

The input field display unit 14 displays an input field for the user of the information processing device 100 to input a search query on the display unit of the information processing device 100. The search unit 16 acquires one or more search results based on the search query from the server 200 via the network.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a chat-like UI displayed on the display unit 110 of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the information processing apparatus 100 is a smartphone and the user inputs a search query “Today's weather” in the input field 112.

  When the user operates the transmission icon 114, a search query is transmitted to the server 200 via the network. In addition, the question display unit 18 displays the information related to the character string of the search query in the question display field 116 in the display unit 110 in a display form as if the information transmitted from the user to the virtual operator is expressed. Display. In FIG. 3, an icon denoted by reference numeral 118 is an operator icon 118 indicating a virtual operator. The icon display unit 20 causes the display unit 110 to display an operator icon 118 indicating a virtual operator.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the user inputs a search query “Today's weather” in the input field 112, but the question display unit 18 does not display the search query itself, but a question format generated based on the search query. A text string “Tell me about today's weather” is displayed in the question display field 116.

  In order to realize this, the storage unit 12 stores a plurality of templates relating to a conversation prepared assuming a conversation between a user and a virtual operator. The template reading unit 22 reads a template from the storage unit 12.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the data structure of the conversation template database stored in the storage unit 12. The conversation template database stores a template for generating a sentence by embedding one or more search queries input in the input field 112. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the user inputs two keywords “Today” and “Weather” in the input field 112. Therefore, the template reading unit 22 selects and reads a template prepared for when two keywords are input from the storage unit 12.

  The sentence generation unit 24 generates a sentence by applying a search query to the read template. The question display unit 18 displays the text generated by the text generation unit 24 by applying the search query to the template in the question display field 116. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the text “Tell me about today's weather” is displayed in the question display field 116. In this way, the information processing apparatus 100 can achieve an effect as if the user asked another person about the search query, as shown in FIG.

  The answer display unit 26 displays the search result acquired by the search unit 16 on the operator icon 118 in the display unit 110 in a display mode that expresses information transmitted from the virtual operator to the user. Specifically, when the search unit 16 acquires a plurality of search results based on the search query, the result selection unit 28 selects one search result from the plurality of search results.

  Here, before the answer display unit 26 displays the search result selected by the result selection unit 28 on the display unit 110, the input effect unit 30 displays a display mode indicating that a virtual operator is inputting a character string. It is displayed on the operator icon 118 in the display unit 110.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a character input effect by the input effect unit 30. In the example shown in FIG. 5, three circular figures 122 of the first circular figure 122a, the second circular figure 122b, and the third circular figure 122c are displayed in the answer input column 117.

  The input effect section 30 first displays the first circular graphic 122a in the answer input field 117, and then displays the second circular graphic 122b while displaying the first circular graphic 122a. The input effect section 30 further displays the third circular figure 122c while displaying the first circular figure 122a and the second circular figure 122b. Finally, the input effect section 30 deletes the first circular graphic 122a, the second circular graphic 122b, and the third circular graphic 122c from the answer input field 117. By repeating the above processing, the input effect section 30 can give the user who observes the answer input field 117 as if a virtual operator is inputting characters.

  As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5, the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment displays a search result based on the search query on a conversational UI. For this reason, when there are a plurality of search results based on the search query, the information processing apparatus 100 causes the display unit 110 to display the plurality of search results one by one. Specifically, when the search unit 16 acquires a plurality of search results based on the search query, the result selection unit 28 selects one search result for each instruction from the user. The answer display unit 26 causes the display unit 110 to display the search result selected by the result selection unit 28 in response to an instruction from the user.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of sequential display of search results in the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. In FIG. 6, an icon denoted by reference numeral 124 is a next search result display icon 124 for the user to display the next search result on the display unit 110. In FIG. 6, the user inputs a character string “HR” as a search query in the input field 112. Therefore, the search unit 16 acquires one or more search results based on “HR” from the server 200.

  The result selection unit 28 detects the operation of the next search result display icon 124 by the user, that is, each time the user's instruction to display the next search result is acquired, the search unit 16 acquires a plurality of search results acquired by the search unit 16. Select one search result. The answer display unit 26 displays the search result selected by the result selection unit 28 in the answer display column 120 in the display unit 110.

  In the example shown in FIG. 6, three answer display fields 120, a first answer display field 120 a, a second answer display field 120 b, and a third answer display field 120 c are displayed. This is because the user has operated the next search result display icon 124 twice. That is, when the user operates the transmission icon 114, the answer display unit 26 displays the first answer display field 120a. When the user operates the next search result display icon 124 once, the answer display unit 26 displays the second answer display field 120b. When the user operates the next search result display icon 124 once more, the answer display unit 26 displays the third answer display field 120c.

  Thus, when there are a plurality of search results based on the search query, the information processing apparatus 100 causes the display unit 110 to display the search results one by one for each instruction from the user. Thereby, compared with a general web search UI that displays a list of search results at a time, the user can obtain the search results as if they were talking to other people.

[Present search query candidates]
The above has mainly described the information search based on the search query input by the user. Here, the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment provides the user with a place to search for information as if they are talking with other people using the chat-like UI. Therefore, when the information processing apparatus 100 can present search query candidates to the user, it is considered that the realism as a conversation can be further enhanced.
Therefore, the query candidate display unit 32 causes the display unit 110 to display a display for instructing a search for a candidate character string that is a candidate for the search query in an area that is different from the input field 112 and can be selected by the user.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for exemplifying display of a search query candidate character string in the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 shows a state in which a virtual operator displays a message indicating that “●●● is a topic in the world” in the query candidate display field 125. Further, in FIG. 7, a candidate search instruction field 126 for searching for “Topic ●●●” as a search query is displayed in the display unit 110. As shown in FIG. 7, the candidate search instruction field 126 is displayed in a different area from the input field 112 in the display unit 110.

  For this reason, the user can search for “Topic ●●●” with one touch without operating the character string input unit 128 which is a software keyboard and inputting the character string. If the user does not wish to search for “Topic ●●●”, the user can operate the character string input unit 128 to input a search query in the input field 112.

  Note that the query candidate display unit 32 may acquire information on a search query having a high search frequency from the server 200 via the network, and may display the information in the query candidate display column 125 and the candidate search instruction column 126 as search query candidates. Alternatively, the query candidate display unit 32 may access a server of a known SNS (Social Networking Service) (not shown), and a user of the SNS may acquire a topic having a high reference frequency to be a search query candidate.

  Thus, when the information processing apparatus 100 presents search query candidates to the user, the user can receive an impression as if another person has provided a topic to the user. Further, the user can acquire a search result based on a search query presented by the information processing apparatus 100 only by operating the candidate search instruction field 126. For this reason, even if the user is unfamiliar with the web search, the user can easily experience the web search.

[Reply to greetings]
As described above, the case where the information processing apparatus 100 provides the search result based on the search query to the user using the chat-like UI has been mainly described. In general, when users chat with each other, greetings such as “good morning” and “goodbye” are also exchanged. Therefore, if the information processing apparatus 100 can respond to the greeting of the user, it is considered that the realism as a conversation can be further enhanced.

  In order to realize this, the storage unit 12 stores a keyword database that stores a plurality of keywords and sentences associated with the plurality of keywords in association with each other. The keyword determination unit 34 acquires a character string input by the user in the input field 112. The keyword determination unit 34 refers to the keyword database to determine whether or not the acquired character string is included in a plurality of keywords in the keyword database.

  When the keyword determination unit 34 determines that a character string is included in a plurality of keywords, the keyword response unit 36 transmits a sentence associated with the keyword including the character string from the virtual operator to the user. The information is displayed on the display unit 110 in a display mode that expresses information.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a greeting reply in the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing the data structure of the keyword database stored in the storage unit 12.

  FIG. 8 shows an example in which the user inputs a character string indicating a greeting “Good morning” in the input field 112 and operates the transmission icon 114.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the keyword database stored in the storage unit 12 stores various keywords in association with sentences serving as responses to the keywords. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 8, the character string “Good morning” input by the user in the input field 112 is registered in the keyword database as a keyword as shown in FIG.

  For this reason, the keyword determination unit 34 that has acquired the character string “good morning” input in the input field 112 determines that “good morning” is registered as a keyword in the keyword database. In this case, the sentence generation unit 24 does not generate a question-format sentence based on the character string “good morning” because “good morning” is not a search query. As a result, the question display unit 18 displays the character string “Good morning” in the greeting display field 130 as it is.

  The keyword response unit 36 acquires the sentence “Good morning, thank you today” registered in the keyword database in association with “Good morning” and displays it in the greeting response column 132.

  In this way, the information processing apparatus 100 provides the user with a more realistic conversation by responding to not only search results based on the search query but also greetings that are generally exchanged in conversations with others. can do.

  As illustrated in FIG. 9, in the keyword database stored in the storage unit 12, a plurality of responses are associated with keywords. For example, for keywords such as “goodbye”, “bye-bye”, and “bye”, multiple responses such as “I ’ll do my best to help you again” and “Goodbye, thank you” are associated.

  Therefore, the keyword response unit 36 may randomly select a sentence to be actually answered from a plurality of reply sentences corresponding to the keyword, or may select them sequentially. In this case, even if the user inputs the same greeting in the input field 112, a different response is displayed in the greeting response field 132. Compared to the case where the same response is displayed for the same greeting, the user is less likely to receive an impression of a mechanical response, so the impression that the user is talking to another person is strengthened. There is an effect in the point.

As described above, the information processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment can provide a new conversation-like user interface for information retrieval.
In particular, it is as if you are talking to other people by displaying the search query character string entered by the user in a conversational manner or displaying a virtual operator icon that conveys the search results. It is possible to provide a user with a convenient information search place.

For a predetermined keyword such as a greeting input by the user, the information processing apparatus 100 displays a response corresponding to the greeting instead of the search result. Thereby, the information processing apparatus 100 can provide a user with a more realistic interface as a conversation.
In addition, when the information processing apparatus 100 presents search query candidates to the user, an opportunity for the user to naturally perform an information search can be provided.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information processing system 10 ... Control part 12 ... Memory | storage part 14 ... Input column display part 16 ... Search part 18 ... Question display part 20 ... Icon display part 22 ... Template reading unit 24 ... sentence generation unit 26 ... answer display unit 28 ... result selection unit 30 ... input effect unit 32 ... query candidate display unit 34 ... keyword determination unit 36 ... Keyword reply unit 100 ... information processing device 110 ... display unit 200 ... server

Claims (8)

On the computer,
A function of causing the display user to display an input field for the user of the computer to input a character string of a search query;
A function of acquiring one or more search results based on the character string via a network;
A function of displaying information on the character string on the display unit in a display mode expressing information transmitted to the virtual operator from the user;
A function of displaying the one or more search results on the display unit in a display mode expressing information transmitted from the virtual operator to the user;
A program that realizes In the computer,
The program according to claim 1, further realizing a function of displaying the search results on the display unit one by one for each instruction from the user when a plurality of search results are acquired based on the character string. In the computer,
A function of reading one template from a storage unit that stores a plurality of templates related to a conversation between the user and the virtual operator;
A function of generating a sentence in which the character string is applied to the read template;
The program according to claim 1 or 2, further realizing the above. In the computer,
4. The function of causing the display unit to further display a display mode indicating that the virtual operator is inputting a character string before displaying the one or more search results on the display unit. 5. The program as described in any one of. In the computer,
A function of determining whether or not the character string is included in the plurality of keywords with reference to a storage unit that stores a plurality of keywords and sentences associated with the plurality of keywords;
In the case where the character string is included in the plurality of keywords, the display unit displays a sentence associated with the keyword including the character string in a display mode that expresses information transmitted from the virtual operator to the user. The function to display
The program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the program is further realized. In the computer,
The display unit is configured so that the user can select a display for instructing a search for a candidate character string that is a candidate for the search query in an area different from an input field for inputting the character string of the search query. The program according to claim 1, further realizing a function to be displayed on the screen. In the computer,
The program according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further realizing a function of displaying an icon indicating the virtual operator on the display unit. An information processing apparatus,
An input field display unit that causes the display unit to display an input field for the user of the information processing device to input a character string of a search query;
A search unit that obtains one or more search results based on the character string via a network;
A question display unit for displaying information on the character string on the display unit in a display mode expressing information transmitted from the user to a virtual operator;
An answer display unit for displaying the one or more search results on the display unit in a display mode expressing information transmitted from the virtual operator to the user;
An information processing apparatus comprising:

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